Philip Hammond says there COULD be a hard border in Ireland

Philip Hammond admits for the first time there COULD be a hard border in Ireland after No Deal because Britain would have to enforce one

  • Chancellor last night became the first minister to make the shock confession 
  • He said World Trade Organisation rules means checks would have to be imposed
  • Thorny question of how to keep a soft Irish has threatened to derail Brexit talks

Philip Hammond last night admitted for the first time that Britain will have to impose a hard Irish border if there is a no deal Brexit.

Theresa May has always insisted that she will do everything she can to avoid imposing customs checks and border controls on the stretch of land.

But the Chancellor last night became the first Cabinet minister to publicly admit that if Britain crashes out with a deal then the UK will have to impose checks.

His stark warning comes amid growing fears of a no deal Brexit as the PM faces just a month to come up with a new plan which wins the backing of EU leaders and her warring MPs. 

Speaking at a fringe meeting at the Tory party conference in Birmingham last night, Mr Hammond said the UK would trade on World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules and will have to impose checks. 

Philip Hammond  (pictured today at the Tory party conference) admitted for the first time that Britain will have to impose a hard Irish border if there is a no deal Brexit

He said: ‘The challenges around the Irish border are around the legal requirements we will have if we are not in a trade block within the European Union to operate the WTO compliant border, which does require checks at the border. 

‘That’s what the WTO rules require.

‘We are depending on the WTO to regulate our relations with the rest of the world, we will have to comply with the rest of WTO regulations or we will find we can’t enforce our WTO rights against others.’


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The Chancellor’s remarks came just a day after Mrs May refused to answer the same question on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show. 

Asked directly if she could guarantee a soft Irish border if there is a no deal Brexit, the PM said: ‘We are working to make sure that we leave with a good deal. That’s what my focus is on.’

Asked again, she said: ‘If we leave — if we get to the point of no deal, we’re making the preparations because we don’t know what’s going to come out of the negotiations. 

‘If we leave with no deal, we as the United Kingdom government are still committed to doing everything we can to ensure there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.’

The problem of the Irish border has proven to be the thorniest issue in the Brexit talks – threatening to derail them altogether.

Both the British government and the EU have insisted that the border must remain soft amid fears that a return to border guards and checks could reignite the sectarian violence which blighted the regions for decades, killing thousands.

The PM says her Chequers plan – which would see the UK stick to EU rules on goods but maintain the right to diverge – is the only the plan to keep the border soft.

Theresa May (pictured today at the Tory Party conference in Birmingham with her closest aides) has always insisted that she will do everything she can to avoid imposing customs checks and border controls on the stretch of land

But EU leaders have rejected her plan in a major humiliation for the Prime Minister.

Instead they have demanded that Northern Ireland stay in the EU’s single market and customs union if no Brexit deal can be done that keeps a soft Irish border.

This has been categorically rules out by Mrs May – who has pointed out it would slap a customs border in the Irish Sea between the UK.

She has said that this is a plan that no British Prime Minister can support as it harms the territorial integrity of the UK. 

Bit Mr Hammond’s remarks will spark fury among Brexiteers who have insisted that the question of the Irish border has been overblown in the Brexit talks.

They have said that the UK should simply refuse to put up a hard Irish border. 

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